I would use the grant to fund the development of new work consolidating recent work, developed over the last five years, recently exhibited in a solo exhibition at The Granary Gallery, Berwick and representing a significant step change in my practice.
These works, moving between painting, monotypes, etching and woodcut prints developed over time, built layered complex narratives giving visual expression to emotions through shared references from art history, literature and popular culture with a playful, dark humour. They explored themes including Jealousy, heartbreak, gendered identity, fame and fortune, capitalism and death and were made alongside a growing interest in Buddhist philosophical ideas including impermanence and karma.
During the making I was often working between two sources: an Instagram post of a celebrity and a Piero Della Francesca figure, The Shard and a howling wolf, A figure in a Chagall painting and a medical drawing of a skeleton. An exquisite corps style chopping and mixing of figures in one work allowed me to move between gender. The works examined the way we collage unstable identities from disparate sources and stories from alcohol branding to art history.
This is the fluid area that I am interested in further exploring in a series of new works where things, people, places, emotions and thoughts are unstable and in a process of flux.
This relates to my continued interest and research into Buddhist philosophy which questions notions of self and perceived reality.
I plan a trip to Nepal in November to attend the second part of teachings previously attended online also researching the rich visual art traditions of the area, expanding my extensive vocabulary of references and techniques largely informed by the western cannon and practices.
My practice moves between painting and printmaking. Printmaking techniques employ much painting that is preparatory, part of the process, serving a purpose but destroyed in the process. Much is learned moving between processes. Having just spent a year developing a woodcut I intend to focus on further pushing the medium of painting in my practice.
I consider my work to be fiction, so any sense of place is fictional but as with most fiction there is the possibility and an open invitation to all to see themselves and take ownership of the meaning in the work. My works are complex and ambitious but are also accessible through humour, shared references and the obvious amount of work that goes into them. One comment at my exhibition, Unravelling at The Granary Gallery was from someone who said they had never felt so comfortable in an art gallery, another person said they felt that there was no gatekeeping. Audiences have an appetite for fiction not commonly considered to be the preserve of painting. It is difficult to find funding for the development of paintings and I believe doing so would enhance and raise the profile of the creative arts in the area
My recent work developed over the past three years, marks a significant development in my artistic practice. Moving between painting, mono prints, etchings and woodcuts and through a process of addressing, examining and transforming strong emotions, the works build to create a series of complex, layered and often darkly humorous images. The works set up imagined scenarios, explored through a meticulous and playful interaction with materials and wide-ranging references including music, television, films, fairytales and art history. They tackle subjects including jealousy, the career isolation of artists, dating and heartbreak and are both intensely personal and entirely made up.
I was born in London and am based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Upcoming exhibitions include the RA Summer Exhibition and The New light Summer Exhibition. Solo exhibitions include Unravelling, curated by James Lowther at The Granary Gallery, Berwick upon Tweed, which closed on 18/05/2025 Unsettled Times at The Art Stable in Childe Okeford in 2021 and Domestic Creatures at The Eagle Gallery with EMH Arts. Group shows include with Flowers Gallery, London, The RA Summer exhibition, Towner gallery, Eastbourne and Watts Contemporary. Guilford.
I graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Sunderland University in 2010 and an MFA in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle 2013.
In 2022 I was a recipient of a DYCP grant from Arts Council England
When I was studying for my degree part time at Sunderland around a young family I curated exhibitions at The Maltings and in temporary spaces around Berwick. I also ran film making projects and art clubs for young people
I was invited by James Lowther, head of visual arts at The Maltings (Berwick) Trust to have a solo exhibition at The Granary Gallery. It ran from 08/03/2025 to 18/05/2025
My work is in is in the public collections of NHS Scotland (2024) The Imperial College Health Care Trust (2022), Birth Rites Collection at the University of Kent (2024) and The Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Collection (2013).
I don’t have gallery representation in the form of a contract but my work is represented online with Flowers gallery, London, Campden Gallery Chipping Campden and Gallery Ten Edinburgh
I am a single mother of 3 sons, the youngest turning 18 and finishing A levels this year. Up until now this has not been an option for me, but I hope to do so in the future.
Email: samanthacaryart@icloud.com
Address: 19 Castle Drive, Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland, TD15 1NS, GB
Local Authority: Northumberland
